Appearing in "The Ship And The River"
Featured Characters:
- Carnage ("Cletus Kasady") (Resurrection)
- Flash Thompson
Supporting Characters:
- Misery (Liz Allan)
- Aria
Antagonists:
- Alchemax
- K-Program (First appearance)
- Beacon of Liberty (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- NYPD
- Cletus Kasady (Only in recap)
- Nana (Only in recap)
- Investar (First appearance)
- Malcolm Rendberg (First appearance; dies)
- Dylan Brock (Mentioned)
- Eddie Brock (Mentioned)
- Travis Brookfields (Death)
- Knull (Named only)
- Meridius (Eddie Brock)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- United States of America
- New York
- New York City
- Manhattan
- Meltdøwn Venue
- Pour Decisions Bar & Restaurant
- Central Park (Mentioned)
- St. Estes Home for Boys, Brooklyn (Only in recap)
- Manhattan
- Aston Park (First appearance)
- New York City
- New York
- United States of America
- Darkforce Dimension (Referenced)
Items:
- Anti-Symbiote Guns
Events:
- Venom War (Mentioned)
Synopsis for "The Ship And The River"
Pierced by a beam of green energy, the Carnage symbiote agonizingly liquifies and oozes down a storm drain, the clone of Cletus Kasady obliterated. Flash Thompson stares at the strange energy weapon in his hands in shock, incredulously asking Liz Allan what it is. Groaning in pain, Liz starts to reply but is interrupted by Flash's concern over her having been grievously injured by Carnage. Liz insists that she's fine, covering herself in the Misery symbiote and snapping that she's alright to get him to back off. Alarmed, Flash asks when she bonded to a symbiote, but Liz tells him it's a story for later. Noting that they need to leave before the police and Alchemax forces arrive, Liz retracts the Misery symbiote into herself and leads Flash away, asking if Carnage is dead. Concerned, Flash replies that he doesn't know. Oozing into the sewer, the remains of the Carnage symbiote cling to life through sheer hatred and force of will, its consciousness within the Symbiote Hive-Mind wondering if it will be the same if rebuilds itself again.
As the weeks pass, Flash struggles to shake off his malaise, drawing on his experiences as a veteran and recovered alcoholic to return to normalcy; while in the sewers Carnage too struggles to recover from the near-fatal wound.
Meeting with Flash at Pour Decisions, Liz states that the K-Program was an R&D project concerning theoretical applications of an anti-symbiote substance called the K-Chemical, and that while the program was shut down years ago money was still being funnelled through it. Liz states she obtained the weapon by following the money, but when she went back to the warehouse it had been emptied. As Flash admonishes her for being reckless, Aria approaches with a mocktail she quips she named after him. As Aria walks away saying she knows he'll love it, Liz notes that she likes him and then resumes her debriefing--saying that whoever made the K-Chemical weapons is covering their tracks.
Consuming some homeless men to rejuvenate and remake the clone of Cletus, Carnage is haunted by its loss of control and asks Cletus what they should do to investigate the weapon that nearly killed it despite its apotheosis.
At Pour Decisions, Flash works up the nerve to ask Aria out for coffee and she accepts, soaking in the joy of the moment because he knows it will sooner or later pass.
Carnage attacks Investar, slaughtering everyone he finds and scrawling rambling instructions in blood. Interrogating businessman Malcolm Rendberg, Cletus says that like Jesus he is risen from the dead, just in time for the coming war between Dylan Brock and Eddie Brock over the Venom symbiote. As Malcolm asks why he's doing this, Cletus replies that it's in his nature to kill... but also an invitation. Malcolm offers Cletus money, contacts, and help in exchange for being spared, but Cletus kills him and hangs him from the ceiling with a hook.
Carnage's followers, chief among them Travis Brookfields, rejoice at their idol's return and speculate what the latest call to worship--instructions to gather in Ashton Park in two weeks for the beginning of the War--mean. Two weeks later, Carnage's other followers gather at Ashton Park, Travis livestreaming the rally using his smartphone. Outside the part, a black van with a decal for the Beacon of Liberty pulls up, as well as Meridius--disguised as a facsimile of Eddie Brock. Standing amongst his gathered supporters, Cletus sneers at them contemptuously, mocking them for being so desperate for a fight that they don't care who or what they're fighting for. As fights break out between the media and different factions of conspiracy theorists, Cletus walks past Travis as the Carnage symbiote says it can sense the K-Chemical weapons are inside the van marked Beacon of Liberty. Transforming, Carnage begins massacring his own followers to bait out the Beacon of Liberty troopers, who pour out of the van only to be swept up in the chaos of the riot. Ambushing and killing several of them, Carnage captures Warbler One and some of the K Chemical weapons, torturing him for information. Before they can get the information they're after, Warbler One exsanguinates and dies. As Cletus admonishes Carnage for pushing too hard, the symbiote dismisses his annoyance and says they got what they came for. As Cletus picks up one of the K Chemical weapons, the Carnage symbiote asks if he thinks Eddie is behind it. Cletus scoffs that Brock lacks the imagination but that they will hunt down its creator and use the K Chemicals to put an end to Eddie's reign as the King in Black. Pulling out a detonator, Cletus sets off several planted explosives hidden throughout Ashton Park, killing most of his supporters. Watching, Meridius is begrudgingly impressed and congratulates Carnage at being one step ahead, secretly wondering if his long-time nemesis will be a problem or an asset in disguise.